Page 345 - IJB-9-2

International Journal of Bioprinting Characterization of BITC antibacterial hydrogel

As shown in Figure 3B and Table 2, the peak area 3.4. Plasticity analysis of different hydrogels
ratio of T (water that is not easy to flow) of the hydrogel To evaluate the 3D-printing adaptability of hydrogels, we
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with only XG was 98.971%, indicating that XG has a performed 3D printing of different hydrogels and screened
strong water retention capacity, in other words, increased the optimal formulation combination of hydrogels. The
polymer gel network of water binding. XLC-Gel and C-Gel 3D-printed models of the different hydrogels are shown
are hydrogels containing CA. The peak area ratios of T in Figure 4A. The printed butterfly model was selected to
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(free water) are 96.976% and 98.494%, indicating that the evaluate the 3D-printing performance and the supporting
water formed by CA is free water, which is unstable, easy performance of the four hydrogels. The X-gel cannot
to run off, and has low water holding capacity. From the be printed because it is liquid and has no gel-forming
comparison of XLC-Gel and XLKC-Gel hydrogels, it can property when heated. Among the other four hydrogels,
be seen that KG can increase the water-holding capacity the XLKC-Gel had the best 3D-printing formability
of the gel. Thus, for XLC-Gel and XLKC-Gel, although and support in terms of printability and appearance.
the same amount of CA was added to both, XLKC-Gel Furthermore, the printed lines were clear and the model
had stronger water retention due to the addition of KG to
XLKC-Gel. First, the stronger the water-holding capacity, was complete. This was consistent with previous rheological
and texture results. Combined with the previous results
the stronger the ability to keep the wound moist, and of rheology, texture, and LF-NMR moisture distribution,
thus, a physical barrier can be better formed to resist the XLKC-Gel showed the best comprehensive performance,
effect of microbial contamination of the wound. Second, and results of 3D printing revealed that it had the best
the stronger the water retention capacity, the stronger
the hydrogel can support, thus enhancing its printability. formability and plasticity. Therefore, we chose XLKC-Gel
It can be concluded that the interaction of XG, LBG, as the carrier to embed BITC, to follow-up as a burn
KG, and CA can increase the water-binding capacity of dressing application. In addition, the materials used in
the polymer gel network. Thus, the XLKC-Gel system’s XLKC-Gel are natural, edible, and safe. XLKC-Gel can be
high water retention capacity protects the wound from used to print many models, such as cherry blossom, rabbit,
microbial contamination and improves the printability of bear, and starfish (Figure 4B), and can be used for 3D
the hydrogel. printing of burn dressings. One advantage of 3D-printed
XLKC-Gel is that it can be printed in customized shapes on
irregular skin surfaces for use as wound dressings.
Table 2. Proportion of peak area of water in different states
of hydrogel (%) 3.5. SEM characterization
Hydrogels T T T T The morphologies of XLKC-Gel and BITC-XLKC-Gel were
2b (1~10 ms) 21 (10~100 ms) 22 (100~1000 ms) 23 (1000~10000 ms)
X-Gel 1.029% / 98.971% / analyzed using SEM. As shown in Figure 5, the network
XLC-Gel 2.656% 0.548% / 96.976% structure of the gel was very obvious. At 500×, it was observed
XLK-Gel 2.124% / 96.352% / that the surface of the gel was relatively flat and uniform,
while at 100× (100 µm), it was observed that the surface of
XLKC-Gel 2.665% / 97.336% / the BITC-XLKC-Gel has many spherical particles oozing
C-Gel 1.506% / / 98.494% from the surface, whereas the surface of XLKC-Gel does not

A B

Figure 4. Three-dimensional (3D)-printed models of different hydrogel. (A) Comparison of 3D-printing performance of different hydrogel. (B) The
3D-printing model of XLKC-Gel.

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2023) 337 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i2.671